Zoids: The Schneider Omnibus : Battlescars
by Chaos Nightbringer
Summary: Sykes Krousen is a former soldier and with his new organoid equipped Liger Zero Blaze Schnieder he intends to be the best Zoids pilot around. Set two years after New Century Zero. Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1: Schneider

Zoids: Battlescars

_Setting:_ two years after the Berserk Fury/Liger Zero panzer fight.

_**Disclaimer**_: I don not own a damn thing except a computer and the stereo in my room.

_Main Characters_: Sykes Krousen, (pronounced the same way as Lightning _Saix_,) who pilots a customized Liger Zero. The Phoenix in this story is more along the lines of an automated Zoid with parts of a CAS for Liger zero. By the way, I know, I got the name for the Murasame Liger wrong, I know it's not Masamune, but Masamune is just easier to type, which is why I enjoy typing Final Fantasy VII stories so much.

Chapter 1: Ready, Fight!

Sykes Krousen looked, bored, through the Zoid shop, seeing rundown Zoids that had existed for decades. It was mostly Command Wolves, the all purpose wolf-Zoids that had a tendency, unfortunately, to overheat during long battles. Why was Sykes looking for a new Zoid, anyway? He was ex-military, after that hadn't had the action he wanted, he'd quit and signed up for the Zoids Grand Championship as a Team pilot.

He took a long time at an Elephander, considering the size and armor, but decided not to, as it was a heavier Zoid than Sykes could really use. He gaped at the appearance of a Death Saurer in this rundown shop, but it was too big to be piloted effectively by Sykes.

He entered a new section of the garage that contained mostly Liger Zoids. He passed on two Blade Ligers, not agile enough, even with the boosters, and a Shield Liger with a Beam Gatling rifle attached. It would've been okay, but was still too slow to meet Sykes's expectations. The next one was different. At first, he mistook it for a Red Blade Liger with an opaque white canopy, but then he realized the body was completely different.

"Hey! That's not for Sale!" the clerk yelled, and began to run at him. As she pulled up next to him, she stood in front of him, but she was a head shorter than he was, so it didn't work much.

"What kind of Liger is this?" Sykes asked.

"It's a Liger Zero Schneider, and its got an organoid system that nobody can reason with. Nobody can pilot it." The clerk said hotly.

"Oh, let me try. Hey, Schneider!" The Liger moved, on its own, not to Sykes's surprise, and looked down at him, then roared. 'What do you want?' it said, inside Sykes's mind.

"What the hell?" he said in a whisper. 'Did you understand me?' the Zoid roared, and Sykes's brain seemed to understand him.

"Yeah. That's weird." 'Growl.' 'No kidding.'

"Who are you talking to?" the clerk asked.

"Can I take this Zoid for a test drive?"

"Didn't you hear me earlier?" The clerk asked, as the Zoid lowered its head to near ground level and opened its cockpit canopy.

"Take a look." The clerk turned and dropped her jaw.

"B-but, that Zoid's never—"

"Sorry, looks like it just did." Sykes said. "Well?"

"You can have it, free of charge. I've wanted to get rid of that thing for so damn long. And you can buy any other Zoids you want at half-price, as long as you take that damn Schneider."

"Well, I'll take the Zero Schneider, but that's really all I want, unless you've got some speed enhancement parts."

"Well, I can show you the trashed CAS I recovered along with the Zoid. There were two, a half-completed Panzer, and a full suit of Jager armor. The Panzer, as far as I know, is a heavy weapon's platform to give the Zoid more ranged weapons fire. The Jager, however, is designed completely for speed. I attached some of the Jager gear to a Command Wolf, and it tore the poor Zoid apart the exhaust was so strong. I tired to test it on my Lightning Saix, but somebody bought it before I could."

"I'll take them." Sykes said quickly.

"Uh…okay. Let's go to my desk and fill out the forms."

Sykes had to rent a small Carrier Zoid to carry the parts, but he took his new Liger Zero Schneider out of the garage on its own four legs. The cockpit was somewhat complex, for a Zoid of its size, but only because of the blades, the rest was fairly simple. Sykes would have loved to push this Liger to the red line and blazed across the desert at two hundred and forty miles per hour, but he needed to watch his carrier, who was following his Liger.

He'd bought a few things to install as well, wider laser-charged blades, for the Schneider swords, and some special cooling units off of a run down Dark Horn, for the Panzer unit.

Sykes took the time to think about looking for a team. He would probably find a few spots where pilots liked to cool down, get a break. So, find a good team and he was down.

Man, he wished he felt more confident than he sounded.

He sat down in the bar, his black overcoat and whole, "warrior goth" thing immediately marking him an outsider. He sat down at the bar and put his back to the crowd.

"What'll it be, stranger?" the old man behind the bar said, not impressed by the newcomer.

The bartender set the shot glass of the liquor in front of Sykes, who swallowed it whole, and turned away like it was water. That was all Sykes would get tonight, it was the law.

"Sykes Krousen?" asked a female voice, and he turned to see a childhood sweetheart.

"Eve?" he asked, unbelievably. She was shorter than most women her age, but she managed by having a very curvy figure, the hourglass-shaped one men like. She was very goth, more goth than Sykes was, and Sykes was happily aware she was wearing a short skirt. She was wearing fishnet hose that only went up to her thighs, showing off her garter belt, with knee-high boots that were heavily padded on the inside. She wore a sleeveless shirt and elbow high fingerless gloves with red stitches-like markings on them.

"Hey. You got out of the military?" She asked, sitting down beside him.

Sykes only nodded.

"What are you doing now?" she asked.

"Well, looking for a team right now, I bought a new Zoid, a Liger, and—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you bought a _Liger_? But you love speed! I would've thought you would've gotten a Lightning Saix or a Saber Tiger."

"Well, its…special."

"Like a retarded kid or like a love interest?"

"Uh… for the time being, I say love interest, but, uh, I could be wrong about this." Sykes said, feeling awkward for a second or two. (Wonder why?)

"Okay. Well, I have a team, but it's kind of full of newbies. We've got one Pilot, Vincent, who has fought in a Zoid, he owns a Masamune Liger. Its weaponry is kind of limited to melee blades. Well, one actually. He installed a double-barreled shock cannon on the Liger's underbelly, but that's about it." Eve said.

Sykes thought about it for a minute. He hadn't heard of a Masamune Liger. There was a Murasume Liger, and the Energy Liger, but aside from Liger zero, Blade Liger, and Shield Liger, that was it.

"I want to try him? By the way, do you have a carrier? I don't want to haul around my custom armor parts on a wagon everywhere I go."

"Carrier? Sure. We got a hover cargo. We wanted to get a Whale King, or maybe an Ultrasaurus, but we didn't have the money. My Zoid's a Dark Horn. Customizing the damn thing took all the money I had, too."

"Yeah, well, I got plenty. Let's see this Hover Cargo."

Eve and Sykes left the bar, and Sykes headed towards his Schneider and directed the carrier Zoid to follow him.

"That's your Zoid? Do you have any idea what kind of Liger that is?"

"Yeah, Liger Zero Schneider, with my own paint scheme."

"Okay. I guess you do know. Come on, it's this way." Sykes made the Zoid follow Eve.

"You're okay with this, right…what is your name?"

'I'm okay with following her into the depths of hell, as long as I get to see her butt bouncing around. You can call me Blaze, it's a cool name, and I'm not sappy anyway.'

"The fact that you said all that in one roar is just plain weird."

'Shut up and follow the damn Goth.'

Of all the Zoids in the world, Sykes picked the one with a smart mouth organoid?

"Gods, What did I do wrong in the past life?"

'You were born, weren't you?'

Walked into that one.

Yep, he's got a smart mouth organoid. If anybody wants to try and write a chapter, just wait, because I have more pre-typed and don't want to have to rewrite because you were getting bored. Remember to review.


	2. Chapter 2: Schneider vs Masamune

Chapter 2: Masamune vs. Schneider!

When Sykes arrived, a pair of men came to greet her, and examine the new Zoid. Sykes parked the Liger Schneider and stepped out. The older man approached him.

"Hey. Who the hell are you?" the man said, who was obviously Vincent.

"The last person you want to fuck with right now."

"I've fought in battles, punk. My Liger is undefeated."

"Because your opponents were pussies." Sykes retorted.

"I'm no weakling, boy. I've fought Zoids a lot bigger than my Masamune Liger."

"It won't match my Liger Zero Schneider."

"Boys! Can we be friends?" Eve asked.

"Not after insulting my Liger. Eve, no offense to your leadership, but I want to be sure he's got what it takes to be on the team."

"You didn't care about Zeke here getting on the team."

"Leman had a Command Wolf MK II. With a long-range beam rifle. What does this guy have? A Schneider. An out of date, run down, Liger Zero Schneider."

"With an organoid."

"Really? Let's see if it helps it any." Vincent snarled. He turned and stalked back into the carrier, and the Masamune Liger emerged.

Sykes nearly laughed. The thing was blue and gold and black all over. Like a bruised pimp. He climbed back into the Schneider and took off into the desert outside of town. The Masamune followed. Sykes stopped and turned so the Zoids were facing. A comet suddenly landed a half a mile away. The Judge bot. The capsule opened to reveal the handless robot, with one 'hand' blue and the other red.

"The surrounding mile radius is a designated Zoid battle zone, all unauthorized personnel are to leave the area at once. The following battle is between Vincent Leonhart's Masamune Liger, and Sykes Krousen's Liger Zero Schneider." It raised its arms to point at both Zoids. "Ready? Fight!" it said, crossing its arms.

Sykes deployed the Liger's forward ramming blades, and prepared to meet some kind of charge. Vincent deployed his main weapon, however, the Masamune sword. It was a glowing blade built onto a circular track section that allowed it to move independently, and it could slash, like a sword. The Masamune Liger charged, roaring, its blade moving to the Liger's left side. Boosters engaged in its back, boosting it foreward.

Sykes dodged and boosted into the Liger's side, the ramming blades penetrating the armor of the other Liger. The Masamune Liger was knocked away, rolling over on itself. However, it rose to its feet, the Masamune sword still intact, and charged. Sykes went ahead and deployed his Schneider swords on Blaze's sides, unlocking the second set of joysticks, which Sykes took into his hands and slid back in the ready position. Pedaling the Liger up to the redline, and igniting the boosters in the Zoid's back, he blazed at the Masamune Liger at 240 miles an hour, pulling both triggers on the joysticks, and sliding them foreward, which moved the swords foreward in a slashing motion, blue energy collecting about the black blades.

"Schneider Slash!" Sykes called, initiating the attack, and cut through Masamune Liger's side, leaving a sparking trail of destruction across the Liger's heavy blue and gold armor. The Masamune Liger toppled, falling, its system frozen.

"Battle over! The Winner: Liger Zero Schneider!" the judge announced, holding up its red arm. "Farewell, until the next battle!" it said, and the capsule closed and Launched away.

A small communications box appeared on Sykes's view screen. It was Vincent.

"Okay. I admit. You've got a nice Zoid, and you've got enough skill to defeat me, so you can handle anything the B Class can throw at you. Welcome to the team."

Inside the control room of the Hover cargo, Eve smiled as Sykes spoke.

"Thanks. Teammate."

The next morning the Masamune was running again, and Blaze was safely in the hover cargo. There were three more Zoids, one, Eve's Dark Horn, which was mounted with two beam gatling cannons, and a laser-charged blade on the horn.

The next two were Command Wolves, one, a regal blue with a long-range beam rifle; the other, silver, mounted with a double-barreled beam rifle and retractable blades on the sides.

Sykes was in the customization bay, working on painting Jager's powerful boosters red and black, and to make them compatible with the Schneider armor.

Vincent watched, looking at the specs of the Liger Zero.

"You won't be able to mount a Beam rifle on the Liger, you know." Vincent said. "Even without the boosters, it can't hold up the weight without slowing it down considerably. The basic Zero armor came with a double-barreled shock cannon, but Schneider has armor there."

"That's why I've got the heavy guns." Eve said, walking in with a plate of sandwiches and six-pack of beer. As well as a certain bottle of triple-strength Death Liquor for Sykes. "Here you go." She said, putting the bottle into Sykes's hand.

"You're a dear, Eve." Sykes said.

"I know." She said hotly, then left the room.

"You drink that straight?!" Vincent cried.

"Yep." Vincent shook his head.

"Eve said you were in the military."

"I piloted a Lightning Saix. I love speed. I piloted a Death Saurer, once, but I couldn't get it going fast enough. Red lining it went about as fast as a turtle." He finished painting the Boosters. "Well, that's it. What do you think?"

"It's okay. You could mount smaller boosters on the Blades, you know. I did that when I upgraded my Blade Liger, before I got the Masamune." Vincent informed.

Sykes ignored him. He called the Schneider to the bay, and it slid in on the tracks built into the floor of the whole Cargo bay. Arms went down on the Schneider, removing the smaller boosters and adding on the large ones, which formed one component, as they were connected to a base.

Now, ranged weaponry. First Sykes didn't like the head unit, so he had the arms remove the armor on Blaze's head and thought about what he wanted out of the head. The Jager. He called up that part, and examined it. He'd have to paint it red; otherwise, the whole paint scheme would be ruined. He programmed the pattern in and began looking at the Panzer's ranged weaponry. The Windbreaker cannon, nope, too heavy, and much too strong. The multi-missile launchers, no, it was part of the Panzer's armor. Jesus, there was nothing he could mount on this damn Zoid that fired! The answer came to him in a flash, and he ran from the Hover cargo, cash in hand.

"You again? Welcome. How is the Liger?"

"He's fine. I've upgraded him with the Jager's boosters. But, anyway. Do you have any small beam armaments? Like the one that could be mounted on the underbelly of a Blade Liger?"

The clerk, Terry, thought for a minute.

"I've got just the thing." She said, and walked towards the parts garage. Sykes followed. She led him past several beam rifles and cannons, eventually leading him to a single barreled weapon that looked like a miniature beam rifle, except upside down.

"This is a pulse laser cannon. It's pretty light, and has a great punch for a weapon its size. Basically, it fires a fully automatic spray of laser fire, or a single continuing laser. The downside is, it gets so damn hot that medium-sized Zoids can't carry it without considerable heat suppression systems. It could run on Panzer, I suppose, but imagine if you had the kind of heat control of a large Zoid, say, a Dark Horn?" Terry said suggestively.

"I bought the heat sinks of a Dark Horn, so I could mount them on the Panzer. I don't think I'll use them on the panzer anymore, though. The Schneider needed a ranged weapon."

"Well, I said I' give you half price, so, I guess that's five hundred." He handed over the money.

"I'll use my truck to bring it over. I want to see this team of yours."

"I didn't say I was in a team."

"News travels fast in a small town." Was all Terry said.

They packed the Pulse laser into the bed of Terry's big pick-up Truck and drove over to the Hover cargo. Terry backed up into the bay, and Eve, as if on cue, hoisted the pulse laser into the air and moved it into the customization bay. Then she came down wearing again, a Goth skirt, a T-shirt, and fishnet hose. And, yet again, you could see her garter belt.

"Well, this is the woman you bought the Liger from?" she asked Sykes, rudely ignoring Terry. Or maybe trying to insult her.

Sykes only nodded. "Terry, this an old friend, Eve, Eve, this is Terry." After a moment, he added, "my third cousin." Terry looked at Sykes, catching the lie, but she played along.

"His mother's side. Twice removed on my father's side." Terry explained. Eve warmed up to Terry immediately. Oh, if only.

"Oh, well, okay then, if you're _family_." Eve said. "Sykes, wasn't your mother an Only child? Didn't she tell me on your fifteenth birthday?"

"My father was her brother, two years younger, but he was kicked out of the family tree for not following the tradition of being in the military." Terry said. Funny, Sykes thought sounds almost convincing!

"Oh. Sorry. I thought, er, well. Nice to meet you. Sorry I was a bitch." Eve said. "Uh, you want a tour?"

"Well, I'm going to install my new pulse laser." Sykes said, and walked away.

Vincent looked at the small pulse laser cannon, and stared openly, as Sykes came in and sat down in the control chair.

"_That_'s your ranged weapon? An itty-bitty, weak little Beam gun?!" He cried.

"It's a pulse laser cannon, jackass, and you'll be saying different about the weak part once I use it in a fight."

"You're right, any self respecting Zoid pilot would fall off a cliff rather than say they were defeated by a Zoid with that! Then, I'll call it a _useless_ itty-bitty weak little 'pulse laser cannon." Vincent cried.

"Shut up, we've got company." One of the Command Wolf pilots said. "I'm Josh, I pilot the white Command Wolf Irvine. Zeke, the other guy, pilots the Command Wolf MK II, the blue one.

"Sykes Krousen." Sykes said without looking. He was placing a heat sink on the armor around the Pulse laser. A thick cable connected the power supply of the Liger to the Pulse cannon, along with another cable that connected to the cooling systems. It wasn't a very long cable, as there was a port for both systems on the belly, right behind the cannon mounting.

"Time to test it."

"You think your Liger can race a Lightning Saix?" Terry said. "I just happen to have one."

Sykes grinned. "I'm all for a race."


	3. Chapter 3: Hyper Mode: engaged!

Standard disclaimers apply, I don't own a damn thing.

Chapter 3: Hyper Mode: Engaged!

About ten minutes later, Liger Zero Schneider and Terry's Lightning Saix Stood side by side. Beside them, stood the Masamune Liger, who was racing, and the Command Wolves. Eve sat I her Dark Horn, standing in front of the line-up.

"Ready?" Eve asked over the Radio.

"Go!" She cried, and the Zoids all took off. The Command Wolves were quickly lost in the dust, but the Masamune Liger and Schneider were managing to keep neck-to-neck, along with the Lightning Saix, who was leading.

"Catch me if you can," Terry said, and Her boosters engaged, shooting her foreward. Sykes grinned, and pushed his throttle up to the Red Line, deployed his blades, and punched his boosters. The twin Jager Boosters and the blade-mounted Schneider boosters engaged, boosting the Zoid to a full three hundred and eighty miles and hour.

"I think I can catch you. Sykes said over the Radio, and Terry looked behind her to see the Liger Zero Schneider coming up fast behind her.

Inside the cockpit, a screen suddenly opened up in front of Sykes's seat, the words 'Hyper Mode: Engaged' on it. A blazing red Light surrounded the Zoid, and the whole thing accelerated to an unheard of speed: Four hundred and twenty. Sykes was pushed back in his seat, and struggled to breathe. He pulled back on the throttle, pulling it down to the blue zone, then stopping it altogether.

"Blaze, what the hell was that?"

'Hyper mode. I activated my second core.'

"Second…? What? You've got two cores? That's an insane amount of power! A Death Saurer would overpower on two cores, Blaze."

'Well, I thought, …I thought you wanted to win.'

"I did, but only engage the hyper mode if I say the words. Okay?"

'Fine. How are we gonna explain it off?'

"I pushed you beyond the Red Line and you went haywire, and I had to Slow down before I burnt the leg joints."

'But mine are advanced. To deal with the friction.'

"Pretend they're not."

'You pretend they're not. I won't say anything to humans, but I'm gonna brag my blades off if I meet a really sexy red Blade Liger.' Sykes spent the next minute trying to get _that_ image out of his mind.

"What was that Red Light that surrounded you?"

'The fire shield. It's an advanced version of the standard shields of a Shield Liger.' A screen opened in front of Sykes. 'Here's the specifications.' They were really small, Sykes leant forward to read them and as he did, he didn't notice the hard metal harness swinging up, and bashing him in the chin.

"Ow!" Sykes screamed, holding his chin. Then he realized. "That's not funny!" he cried as Blaze raised his head and roared out laughter. (By the way, All Zoids have inertial dampeners in the cockpits, but during the Hyper mode, the power of the boosters overpowers the max settings of the dampeners.)

Terry and Vincent were waiting for Sykes when he reached the finish line, a small red flag. Sykes opened the cockpit, reluctantly, and got out. He tried t0 keep his chin low, so they wouldn't notice the new bruise.

"What happened?" Terry asked, grinning.

"I pushed Blaze too far."

"Blaze?"

"The Schneider's organoid."

"Wait," Vincent said, then looked really close at Sykes's face. 'Oh no,' he thought. "Did you get hit taking off your helmet?" The harness of a Zoid was referred to as a helmet. Vincent began to laugh.

"No I didn't!" Sykes said, not convincing anyone, least of all himself. Vincent and Terry began to laugh even harder. Blaze even let out a series of low, repetitive growl-like chuckles.

"Don't you start! He yelled at the Zoid. He heard the approach of Eve's Dark Horn and the two Command Wolves. Sykes groaned and attempted to hide his new bruise by looking at the rock at his feet and kicked at eh ground casually.

"What's so funny?" Eve asked.

"You're friend bruised his chin," Vincent paused to catch some breath, "taking off his helmet!" Eve looked from Vincent to Sykes, in shock, then burst into a fit of laughter.

"Shut up!" Sykes said, not raising his head. When they didn't stop laughing at his bruise, he gave up trying to hide it with a sigh. "You're gonna pay for that!" He yelled at Blaze, who began to roar laughter.

"I need to make my Liger faster." Vincent said later, thinking about the race today.

"Well, I have a good deal of parts in my store." Terry said. She was daddy's little girl, always wearing a long-sleeved shirt under a dress that went to about halfway down her shins. "Along with a modest number of Zoids. Almost all of Which, Sykes can buy half-off for taking the Liger…Blaze, off of my hands. Man, though, I'd love to pilot my Lightning Saix in a Team."

Eve was watching Terry as she spoke; a slight look of pity in her eyes. Terry continued.

"All I can do is…dream, and run around in my Saix, pretending to fight. I guess," she sobbed, and lowered her head, and Sykes nearly grinned, she was playing Eve. "I guess I'll just have to run the store, and dream of the day when I'm a actual pilot." Terry began mock crying, and Sykes nearly patted her on the back. She was good.

"Gosh Dang the Holy mother of Christ Herself!" Sykes's eyebrows shot up; that was not Eve's regular way of talking! "If you want to pilot on a team, You can pack up and come with us!" Eve cried and wrapped Terry up in a hug. Terry got a sudden look of Terror on her face, Eve was really convinced, but she returned the hug warmly, awkward, as terry was taller than Eve, but it nearly broke Sykes's heart knowing Eve had been had.

"But, you've got plenty of Strong Pilots. I would only—"

"Shush. We'll form two teams, and they'll rotate depending on the opponents."

"But the store, I can't—"

"Sell the damn store! Don't let stuff like that get in the way of your dreams. Hell, if you sell all the Zoids in there, we can buy a few Ligers, and have an all Ligers team! I just came up with our team's name! The Lightning Ligers!"

"Just kill me." Sykes said.

With those words, the Lightning Ligers team embarked on their adventure.

Thank you, thank you, I know, it sucks balls. But, hey, at least I updated. Please remember to review, thanks. Next chapter we'll have our first true battle, although don't have your hopes up to high. Thanks. Or, if you just watched Spy Kids, 'sknaht!'


	4. Chapter 4: Schneider vs Jager

I don't own.

Chapter 4: the Blitz Team, Jager vs. Schneider!

Sykes helped Terry sell the store to a poor family, and bought a few of the Zoids from them, as well. An auxiliary Command Wolf, an extra Dark Horn, the Red Blade Liger, (for Vincent,) as well as a lot of Weapons, mostly rifles, and a pair of CP-12 booster attachments for the Masamune Liger.

Then, they left, the Hover cargo taking off towards the horizon.

Zeke was sitting in the Living room, watching TV. Sykes walked in and sat down on the couch, watching the tube alongside Zeke.

"Hey, man. I haven't met you yet. Heard your name, Sykes Krousen. I was that guy with Vincent when he challenged you."

"Yeah, I remember you."

"Hey, guys? I found another hover cargo, and they're carrying Zoids!" Eve said over the intercom. Sykes and Zeke rushed into the hover cargo's control room. On the screen, sure enough, was a blue and white Hover Cargo. A person's face suddenly filled the screen.

"Hello! I'm Mr. Tauros, the owner of the Blitz team!"

"Uh, Eve Ravenholme, the founder of the Lightning Ligers team."

"Oh, you like Ligers, huh? What do you say our Ligers meet out in the Desert, I'd love to see yours. I'll just get my Liger's pilot. Bit!" a new face, a young, blond haired man entered the screen.

"Hey, I'm Bit Cloud."

Sykes walked foreward. "I'll meet you in front of our respective Cargos, I don't believe in meeting across the communications."

"No prob." The screen went dead.

"Come on, Vincent. Josh, you can pilot the Blade Liger."

A few Minutes later, A white Liger Zero ran out to meet Liger Zero Schneider, Masamune Liger, and the Blade Liger.

"Whoa. You've got one too?" Bit asked on the Radio.

"Apparently." Sykes said, keeping his guard up.

"Does this mean we win automatically?" Vincent asked, joking.

"You may have more Ligers than my team does, but I can kick anybody's ass. We'll see." Bit said.

"Maybe. Maybe my Schneider will leave you in the dust."

"Alright, we'll settle this, today. My Jager and the rest of my Team versus you and your team. Sound good? Or are you gonna back out?"

"You're on." Was all Sykes said, and turned his Zoid around.

"Are you sure about this? I might not match the speed of a Jager." Vincent said.

"I don't need you to, just handle the rest of his team. Josh, go get Eve and tell her to come out here with her Dark Horn."

"Already out here." Eve said, pulling her dark Horn up in the starting position. Josh ran the Blade Liger back to the Hover cargo.

The judge struck down just as Blitz team emerged from their hover cargo. It was a Gunsniper, with twin Gatling rifles, a Shadow Fox, and the main attraction, Liger Zero Jager. The judge opened up.

"The next fifteen mile radius is a designated Zoids battle zone, all unauthorized personnel leave at once." The Hover cargos began to back away from the Zoids. "Today's battle: Blitz team versus the Lightning Ligers team. Ready? Fight!"

Sykes deployed his Schneider Swords and charged, Vincent deployed his Masamune Sword, and charged at the shadow fox, and Eve began trading fire with the Gunsniper. Bit turned his Jager ran full speed at the canyons area of the Battlefield. Sykes saw this and chased after him.

"You coward!" He called. Bit suddenly engaged his boosters and blazed away. Sykes did the same. As the canyon drew nearer, Sykes saw that His blades wouldn't fit in the boxed in canyon, and retracted them.

Instead, he fired away at his pulse laser, only barely missing the Jager. Jager suddenly turned and went down another Canyon before Sykes could turn, and he wound up having to go the same direction.

"Keep an eye open."

'Do I have a choice?'

Jager suddenly leapt down behind Blaze, and fired its shock cannon. Blaze's flank was grazed, and the rear left leg began to wobble. Sykes thumbed his selector switch on his pulse laser controls, setting it to continuous beam, and jumped the Schneider atop the edge of the canyon, and fired down on Jager. The beam hit Jager on its right side, leaving a smoking trail of molten metal.

Bit jumped his Jager onto the opposite canyon edge, and stopped. Sykes slowed his Liger down and deployed his new Schneider swords. He turned around and met the Liger, and they stared off across the canyon.

"Liger! Strike Laser Claw!" Bit Cried, and jumped his Liger at Blaze.

"Schneider Slash!" Sykes cried, and met the charge. Liger lashed out with his foreward claws, which were blazing with energy, but Blaze leaned out of the way, yet his blade struck the armored front of Liger Zero. The Jager crashed on the other side of the canyon, damaged, but repairable. Sykes and his Blaze landed harmlessly on the opposite side.

"Bit Cloud. I'll remember the name. Know this, I'll wait for you at the top." Sykes said, then ran off to help his teammates. Bit merely soothed the pained organoid in his Liger Zero. But the words encouraged Cloud. He'd face Sykes Krousen again someday. And then he would again be the best.

Eve pelted the Shadow Fox with beam Gatling fire, yet the limber Zoid just kept on dodging. And it was getting on Eve's nerves.

"Hold Still, Dammit!" Suddenly, Eve was pelted by Gatling fire. She looked to see the Gunsniper firing on her with its guns. She redirected her fire, and the smaller Zoid fell under the massive pounding of Eve's cannons.

"Not again!" Leena Tauros cried.

If only Vincent was having as much ease. His Masamune wasn't nearly as fast as the Shadow Fox. The Zoid lunged out and slashed at the side to the opposite of the side with the Masamune sword on it, cutting apart the Zoid's heavy armor. The old Zoid crashed.

"Well, that was easy. Now it's the Dark Horn's turn." Brad said.

"Think again. Hyper Mode!" Sykes called.

'Finally.' The hyper mode blazed to life, the Fire Shield forming around the Liger Zero Schneider, and Sykes rammed the Shadow Fox head on, the shield sending the Fox-type Zoid flying, to crash at the feet of the judge.

"Battle over. The Winner: the Lightning Ligers! Farewell, until the next battle."

The Judge bot launched.

"Hey, Vincent, you okay?" Eve asked.

"Just my pride." Vincent replied.

"Sykes?"

"I took a hit or two, but I'm fine." Sykes said.

'Oh, please, I took the hits, I'll have you know.' Blaze said as he deactivated the Hyper Mode. Hopefully neither Vincent nor Eve had seen the Hyper Mode.

"Bit!" Mr. Tauros said in greeting. "Don't worry about the Liger Zero, give it a few months in the repair bay, it'll be fine."

"No." Bit said. "I need something stronger than Liger Zero. I need to rebuild him from the ground up. I'm never going to lose again. Because…because I need to fight him again, in the last battle. For that, I need something that can surpass the Liger Zero, even the Panzer. I need I need something that can match a Death Saurer, if it has to. I'm going to win!"

As Mr. Tauros absorbed this, he wondered what that man had unlocked inside Bit Cloud.

"Bit, why would you want that? Isn't the Liger Zero just fine?"

"He's the reason I'm doing this. I don't…this sounds weird, but I don't ever want him to feel that pain again. We'll be stronger together, and we'll win, as a team, we'll win!"

"That's the Spirit!" Mr. Tauros said. "Oh, Bit, do you like to play with Model Kits?"

Sykes sat in the lounge, sipping at a beer, (he was out of tequila, again,) when Eve walked in. she saw him immediately and sat down beside him.

"So, Sykes. What was the deal about that hyper mode thing?" She asked.

"My Liger has two cores." Sykes said simply.

"What? That's an insane amount of power for that size of Zoid! It's a miracle you haven't been blown to kingdom come!"

"Well, there's a reason I only use it a few times."

"Wait! If you have that much power, we could seriously upgrade your Liger! We could make it near godlike!"

"I guess."

"Imagine a Charged particle cannon!"

"Eve, I've piloted a Death Saurer, I know what I can and can't do with two cores. I'm not installing super-heavy weaponry on a Medium Liger-type Zoid with speed modifications. If I had a Geno Saurer, or even a Berserk Furher, I'd try to implement enough weaponry to bring down a Madthunder. But not on Blaze. He's not built for it, anyway."

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you."

Yeah, I know, short chapter, don't complain. Review, Please. Thank you.


	5. Chapter 5: Enter the White Scar

I do not own, you will not sue, and I allow the world to keep spinning. Get it? Got it. Good.

**Chapter 5**: Warriors of Fenris! Enter the White Scar!

A blood red Gunsniper and a Red-Blade Liger were running from a pair of Wolf Zoids.

"Ugh! Dammit! Where'd the third go?" Naomi asked Leon.

'Right in front of you.' Said a pilot, and a Konig Wolf uncloaked in front of the Red Comet, and slashed right through the Gunsnipers armor.

"Magnessar drills. Who are you?"

'Me? I'm just the White Scar. Leman Russ.'

"Jesus, Vincent, why didn't you dive?" Sykes asked the veteran pilot. The Shadow Fox had ripped the Masamune's left side apart. Sykes was currently checking the movement jacks in the legs of the legendary Liger Zoid. The armor had to be re-forge cast. (Basically you cast the armor and then forge it till its cool helps shape it correctly.)

"I was too worried about my health." Vincent said.

"You aren't that old."

"Ha! Fifty-two years old. My son is probably a father now."

"You never told me you had a son." _Or that you were fifty-two, but hey, one thing at a time._ Sykes chuckled and tightened a bolt.

"You never asked."

"Har. Har-de-fucking-har. 'Put it back in the good book, ole Jim-boy, save a few scriptures, arr.'"

'Shut up.' Blaze growled. 'Please. I don't go quoting Niger movies when you're around, do I?'

"Hey! Treasure Island is not a Niger movie; I'm not even a fucking Niger. Don't forget who bought your ass out of that shop!"

"You need pills. Both of you." Sykes raised his head to look at Vincent, who was sitting in the open cockpit.

"You aren't surprised I talk to my Zoid?"

"Nah, I had an Organoid-equipped Zoid once. She was shot down. I was never really the same again. Anyway, I need to get that booster pack onto this piece of Junk."

"You know it would be a lot easier on the Blade Liger, right?"

"Oh, no. I may joke about her, but I Love the Masamune Liger. I consider her one of my children. I'm not abandoning her. I'll be fine. I just need to redo the armor a little."

"Well, you can't exactly mount the boosters on her ass, she'd fall over, unless her head weighs a ton. Which it probably does." Sykes said, just as Eve entered the room. She walked over and slapped him. Vincent just watched, trying to hide a smirk. Sykes glared at Vincent. "You son of a bitch."

"Well, that was a complete waste of time and ammo. I didn't even need the beam rails." Leman said. "Now, let's find him. I want to exact my revenge."

"Hell, boss, he may not even have a Zoid any more."

"Oh, if I know that old bastard, he's still got a few battles still in him. I may have destroyed his Lightning Saix, but I've got a feeling he's got a new Zoid." Leman said. "Find him."

"Hey, boss, we're picking up a new hover cargo? Want to check it?"

"Hey, Vincent, you and Booster boy get up on the bridge, I've found another Hover Cargo. We may not have time to repair the Masamune. We'll just have to use Terry and her Lightning Saix."

"Alright." Vincent said, snickering a little.

"Shut it, senior." Sykes spat.

They took the lift to the bridge. Eve had already opened a channel. Vincent saw the face and twitched. He was still fighting?

'Hello. This is Leman Russ of the Fenris team. We're currently re-stocking from the battle. Tomorrow we should be available. Would you care for a battle then?'

Eve looked to Sykes. Sykes knew what she was thinking. It was too good to be true! They'd have time to fix the Masamune, maybe, and mount the boosters.

"Fine." Eve said, smiling. The link went dead. "You guys better have that damn Zoid running by tomorrow, because I want to beat these guys. And Sykes?"

"Wait, I was talking about the Masamune Liger earlier, if I wanted to mount boosters on you, I would've done it already."

Eve raised an eyebrow. Sykes suddenly realized what he'd said.

"Oh, shit."

Leman Russ, the White Scar, was currently hiding inside the Hover Cargo, waiting for the perfect moment. He Masamune was repaired, and everyone was asleep. He ran to the ladder, and climbed the legs of the Masamune. He jumped into the cockpit and fired up the core.

"Hey! Leman!" Shit! Vincent! Leman kicked the Masamune into the Red Line and engaged the boosters. The Masamune Liger blazed away from the cargo.

The Next day, Vincent woke up Eve quickly.

"What is it?" she complained, groggy.

"Leman Russ. He stole the Masamune!"

"What!?" she shouted, jumping out of bed, nude. She looked down. "Oh!" she covered herself quickly.

"Yes. He knew how to pilot the Masamune out of the hold."

"And he got past Blaze. He's been cursing himself. Go ahead and take him, Vincent, its personal for him, too." Sykes said from the doorway. "I told him to let you use every system. He's even got the Hyper Mode warmed up for you."

"Hyper Mode? Never mind; just let me get him. What will you do?"

"I'll pilot the Blade Liger. Don't worry, I can take on anybody, it's just a matter of skill and luck." Sykes said.

Sykes piloted the Blade Liger up to the twin Konig Wolves. Sykes inwardly cursed. He knew that a Blade Liger and a Command Wolf Irvine wouldn't last against Konig Wolves.

'You weaklings think you can last against us?'

"I know I can last against you. I refuse to lose to Konig Wolves. You know who I am?"

'A loser.'

"Nope. I'm the Lightning Dragon. Sykes Krousen."

'What?'

"Ready, fight!" Sykes boosted the Blade Liger into action, deploying both blades. The gatling-armed Konig fired at the Liger, and Sykes used his energy shield to block.

'A Shield Liger? I thought it was registered as a Blade Liger!'

Sykes sighed. "The problem with you people is that you're always bound to forgo information for firepower. That's why you'll always lose."


	6. Chapter 6: The Dark Liger

I don't own, don't sue me, I'm poor.

Chapter 6: Terry's Chance to Shine

Commander Saix 'psycho' Kraken walked into the control room, his long black Backdraft uniform whipping about in the wind. The officer overlooking the scientists turned to Saix and saluted.

"How is it going?" Saix asked.

"They say it's almost complete. Per your instructions, it has a CPC, a Dual Beam Sniper pack, boosters, and charged power blades. The quad-linked Vulcan cannons are being mounted on the head as we speak."

"You know, I haven't seen much of you around." Sykes said to Terry. They were sitting on the folded open side bay door.

"Well, I've been sleeping, mostly."

"I made Eve promise to give you a shot in the next fight, see you lead the Command Wolves into battle, instead of me or Vincent."

"But you guys are so good, I mean, you're a legend, according to Vincent! He always wanted to fight the Lightning Dragon."

"He did, and he lost. Trust me, the Lightning Saix is going to get her hands dirty."

"You mean paws?"

"You know what I meant."


	7. Chapter 7: Some Scars Never Heal

I don't own.

Chapter 7: Scars that Never Heal

Sykes sat in the cockpit of the Schneider, although for once he wasn't in combat. He touched the scar on his chin, feeling go across his jaw to his neck.

Memories of the crash filled his mind.

(Flashback)

Sykes punched the new Lightning Saix Tornado into the red line, the four experimental void boosters blasting to full output. The Zoid was suddenly thrown into five hundred miles an hour. Landscape flew bast him, greens, yellow, tan, blue. Then the Zoid tripped. The Lightning Saix was suddenly turned sideways and flipped, sending Sykes flying into his own canopy. The glass cut part of his face open, leaving a bloody trail with bits of glass stuck in there. Sykes was knocked unconscious as the Zoid's boosters exploded.

He woke up a week later with IP drips stuck in his arms, and stitches along his entire jaw. He'd drank his meals through a tube for a month, he couldn't move his mouth without ripping apart the stitches.

One day, Sykes had thrown up, and ripped the stitches open, painfully. The pain was so great he'd gone unconscious.

A month later, he was in rehab, learning to walk again.

"Sykes?"

(End flashback.)

Sykes looked up to see Terry staring into his open cockpit.

Sykes looked back down, refusing to answer her.

"Is something wrong?" Sykes looked back up, and then raised his head so she could see the eight-inch scar that ran from his Adam's apple to his temple.

"This scar, I've had it since three years ago, when I was in the military. It was a testing run. A new Lightning Saix Tornado. I was the guinea pig pilot. Its right fore leg gave out from the friction, snapped in half. The Zoid went into a sideways twist, going five hundred miles rolling sideways. When I stopped I had gone fifteen miles, through about two mountains."

"Ow."

"Yeah. I went through three months in a hospital and rehab. I never piloted a Saix again. One of those old war stories the press doesn't tell you."

"You'll be fine. I think Blaze likes you, he won't let anything happen to you."


	8. Chapter 8: Sykes the Lightning

Chapter 8: Sykes the Lightning

Sykes stepped out of the shower, fresh from a victory, a deep gash on his temple that would no doubt add on to the eight-inch scar on the side of his fricking face. He looked in the mirror, and nearly retched. That was nasty. He had two scars on his face, one that crossed his lips, the one that had caused the most trouble in the hospital, and the other one that went from his throat to his temple. Now that scar would have a lightning-like end.

'But you're the Lightning Dragon, aren't you?' Asked a female voice. _Inside_ his _head_.

"Who are you? What are you doing inside my head?"

'I'm the one who is to set you on your true path, Sykes Krousen. Or, is it Pyre Dominus? Make your choice, Sykes the Lightning.'

"What did you call me?"

&&&

Blaze suddenly looked up, trapped inside the Liger Zero. The Zoid roared. This pain, it was too much! The Liger, under Blaze's control, roared, raising its head in a cry of agony. It began to beat itself against the walls of the Hover Cargo.

"Blaze! Blaze! Control yourself!" Vincent shouted at it.

'Hurts! Van Flyheight, it hurts like a Bitch!' The true pain suddenly over came Blaze. 'Arrgh!! Zeke!' The entire Zoid began glowing bright white, so bright Vincent ran away clutching his eyes. The Hover Cargo doors opened, and the Zoid leapt out, and a blazing red comet shot from the Zoid into the night sky.

&&&

Sykes felt everything. He himself was burning in blue fire.

'Isn't it past time you knew of your heritage, Sykes the Lightning?' two bright blue stripes suddenly appeared on Sykes's cheeks and neck.

'Until we meet again, Sykes the Lightning. Go find your friend.' The fire stopped as suddenly as it had appeared.

"Blaze?" Gone. The Schneider was now just an ordinary Zoid. "Blaze!"

&&&

The red organoid awoke the next day. He heard laughter. He looked and saw a fourteen-year-old girl, and a twelve-year old boy, standing in front of a Shield Liger.

"Hello there, I'm Tifa, and this is Zack." The Girl said, kneeling beside Blaze. He/she stood up as straight as he could, then decided he couldn't talk to humans this way. Its living metal body suddenly turned into a red storm of energy, and then turned into a pale-skinned woman with blood red hair and blue eyes. Blaze looked down to see she was naked and covered herself quickly. There were days when millennia of evolution worked against you.

"Uh, can I borrow some clothes?"

"Momma! We found a naked lady!" Zack called. A new woman ran towards them, presumably their mother. Blaze had a thought of transforming back into her usual organoid form, but didn't, as it would drain her already low power.

"Oh! Hello, uh, I'm Cassiddy."

"I'm Blaze." Blaze said, offering a hand. Then decided not to because children were present.

"Oh! Tifa, go get me my red dress. Now." Cassiddy said to Tifa. Tifa nodded, smiling and ran towards the trailer.

"Can we keep her, momma? She's an organoid! I saw her turn into the naked lady!"

"That's up to her, Zack. She's a person, too." They looked at Blaze. (Now spelled Blaise, I guess.)

"Sorry, I already have a partner. I think." Zack groaned, disappointed. He turned and began to walk away.

"My husband was a Zoids pilot. He died piloting the Shield Liger over there. He guarded the family from pirates. Since then, no one is able to pilot the Shield Liger. Tifa and Zack are too young, and well, I'm not a pilot." Tifa arrived with a full body dress. Blaise took it and slipped it on over her head. Despite filling the dress out nearly perfectly, Blaise looked like a farmgirl wearing one of momma's old dresses, and one who was obviously naked under the dress.

"You look quite nice in that dress, actually." Cassiddy said, crossing her arms on her chest.

"Whatever." Blaise said, now starting to get slightly aggravated. My god, she was acting just like Sykes! That idiot human was rubbing off on her! And Blaise sorta liked it. Wait, what was she thinking? Sykes was a bastard human. He wasn't even Zoidian! Blaise internally scolded herself for thinking about Sykes. She was free of him! Free, she said, and free of that weak Liger Zero! Free!

&&&

So, she's abandoned Sykes, who is now a Zoidian. For now I'm gonna follow Blaise's story, and leave Sykes with the Lightning Ligers, until they meet up with her.


	9. Chapter 9: the Blaze Begins

Chapter 9: The Blaze Begins

Blaise sat on the forefoot of the Shield Liger, looking out over the plains. A pair of Bison-Zoids were grazing, eating the grass and feeding it to the living core in the center of the mechanical body. Blaise had been like those cores once. All organoids started life as a Zoid core. Over time they evolved enough to leave the Zoid body behind.

Once against she wondered if Sykes was looking for her. Last night she hadn't slept a wink. She'd dreamed of Sykes, with glowing blue eyes, driving his member deep into her sex. She'd woken up almost instantly, disgusted. Mating in this weak body? It was absurd, and disgusting, and totally uncalled for. Yet, oddly right. Blaise laid back against the leg and tried to sleep.

(Dream)

_Blaise writhed against Sykes, her long, muscular legs wrapped around his waist. He braced himself on his arms and began to pump without abandon, pushing both of them closer and closer to the edge. They went over the edge together, screaming in chorus._

_Wrapped in orgasm's sweet embrace, Blaise drew deep breaths as the shudders stopped in her own body. Sykes however, leaned down on her and whispered in her ear._

"_I love you."_

(End dream)

Blaise lunged forwards, sweat making her skin slick. She jumped off of the Shield Liger's forepaw and bent over to retch. Yuck! Humans and their mating rituals should keep to themselves! Blaise felt something deep in her belly. No more thinking of Mating! The dreams were bad enough! Blaise wouldn't be able to sleep for a week.

"Pirates!" Tifa cried. Blaise looked up. Yes, four or five Sabre Tigers. Blaise quickly ran towards the Shield Liger and climbed into the cockpit. The Zoid was ancient, but much more powerful than Saber Tigers. The Liger was suddenly under heavy beam rifle fire.

"Try this on for size." Blaise snarled, and fired the double-barreled shock cannon on the Zoid's underbelly. The lead Zabre Fang tripped and exploded. The Zabre Fangs continued to fire. Beam Shots suddenly rained down on the Pirate Zoids. Blaise looked, and, low and behold, Josh and Leman were sitting in their Command Wolves.

"What are you doing here?" Blaise snarled angrily.

'Saving your ass!' said Sykes's voice, and the Schneider leapt over the Command wolves and the Shield Liger, and charged the Zabre Fangs, both blades at max power. The two remaining Zabre fangs jumped at the Liger, jaws open. Sykes jumped the Schneider backwards, then lunged on the first, clamping its jaws down on the Zoid's neck. Electricity started to run across both Zoids. Sykes kicked off the Tiger and jumped away just as the Pirate Zoid exploded. Sykes turned the Liger zero just enough to see the remaining Zabre fang. It charged, jaw gaping. Sykes didn't have the time to turn.

Blaise rammed the saber tiger with the e-shield active, knocking the Zoid down. As the Zoid got up, Sykes charged.

"Schneider slash!" The Saber Tiger fell as the energy-charged blade ran it though, leaving it a smoking wreck.

"Sykes! I had the situation under control, dammit, and why did you come after me?"

"When did you get a human Form? I evolve to find I can feel your thoughts, and you're gone!" Sykes snarled right back.

"I got a human form before you were born, _Sykes_!"

'You two bicker like an old married couple.' Josh offered.

"Shut up!" they chorused at the Command Wolf.

"Whore!"

"Jock!"

"Fang ass!"

"Arse face!"

"Slut!"

"Gigolo!"

Sykes paused. "Okay, you win."

"Go away! I don't need your help!"

"Prove it!"

"Why you!" Blaise charged, the e-shield blazing to life around the Liger. Sykes returned the charge, activating his own Zoid's e-shield. The two barriers of energy met with a bang and a cackle of electricity. An explosion suddenly sent both Ligers flying backwards. As they went back to their feet, the e-shields flickered, still active, but without the power to provide protection.

Blaise fired. Sykes dodged, then returned fire. The lance of red energy swept across the Shield Liger's side, making the armor turn red from the heat. Blaise jumped the Schneider. Sykes started to turn, but was rammed broadside and flipped. Sykes gave a burst of the Schneider's boosters and righted it.

Suddenly, the air around them was filled with beam gatling fire. Blaise and Sykes jumped out of the barrage. Both looked.

"What the Fuck?" the chorused.

Yeah, yeah, okay, short chapter. Or not. Dunno, you decide, people seem so willing to annoy me and Not REVIEW! I pay attention, you land lovers! Hmm, I fear I may have gone totally and irreversibly insane. Irreversibly. Hmm. I like the sound of that. Anywho, (WTF! Where did I learn to talk like that!?) next chapter may have some songfic, I haven't decided yet. I fi do, it's gonna be 'In the End,' by Linkin Park.


	10. Chapter 10: Begninnings of a War

Chapter 10: The Begginings of a War

The Liger was entirely black, with subtle gold parts. A pair of Hybrid Vulcan cannons were mounted on the Zoid's back, and a pair of gold blades were mounted on either side. A triple barreled shock cannon was mounted on the underbelly. The Head was strange, even for the Shield Liger it had been based on. Beam rifles had been built into the front shoulders.

"Who the fuck is this asshole?" Sykes cried.

The Dark Liger instantly opened fire with both cannons. Sykes leapt out of the heavy beam fire, the opposite direction of Blaise and her Shield Liger. Sykes engaged both boosters and flew at the Dark Liger. It opened its mouth, and energy began to gather in the Zoid's mouth.

The Dark Liger fired. The charged particle cannon hit Sykes head-on, melting the Zoid's armor. Sykes pressed the Zoid onward. The stream of particles stopped. Sykes punched the button to release the Schneider armor.

"Strike Laser Claw!" Sykes cried. The golden claws blazed to life with new energy. Sykes jumped the un-armored Liger into the air. The Dark Liger jumped away.

"You cannot hope to match the Dark Liger without your armor." The Enemy pilot said. "I am Colonel Saix Kraken."

"I am Sykes Krousen. And you have no idea what you're dealing with! Hyper mode: Engaged!" The Liger zero turned blood red. Armor began to melt into place. When it was done, A new set of Schneider armor rested on the Liger Zero.

"What? Your Zoid is the Proto Liger? Impossible!" Saix cried. "Die, Sykes Krousen!" Every weapon on the Dark Liger opened up, and opened fire. Sykes activated the Flame Shield. The area around the Liger zero became a smoking crater. The Liger Zero calmly trotted out of the smoke. Nothing had even dented the Shield.

"It is the Proto Liger. So, you're the chosen Pilot, eh?" Saix said. "No matter, I will still pound you into the dirt!" The Dark Liger charged, e-shield active. Sykes charged, activating his energy shield. Both Ligers blazed at each other at full speed, boosters turning red at the edges. Metal screamed as Sykes reached five hundred miles per hour.

They met in mid-air, shields crunching together, showering blue sparks. The Schneider's armor began to vibrate and ripple. Sykes pulled the trigger. One last weapon to win the day. The Pulse Laser cannon fired, a full stream of blue energy rather than a burst of rapid fire destruction. The Dark Liger's e-shield exploded, and was shot backward by the pressing weight of the Schneider's heavy armor. Sykes made the Schneider bite into the exposed metal in the neck, pulse laser fangs over-heating the ancient metal, leaving a pair of red bite marks.

Sykes walked over the Dark Liger. There were cracks in its armor, and its joints were red-hot, but it was intact. Twin Death Saurers suddenly decloaked.

"You may have beaten me, but my partners can certainly destroy you." Saix said. Sykes looked up at the two huge tyrannosaur Zoids. He knew of two weapons that could stop a Death Saurer, and that was the gravity cannon on a Ultrasaurus, and the CPC of another Death Saurer. Wait a minute… Sykes turned towards the Hover cargo and ran. He'd need that Panzer armor to withstand what he had planned.

"Eve, the Panzer armor." Sykes said, running the Zoid into the CAS bay. The Schneider armor was pulled away, and replaced by the thick Panzer armor.

"Sykes, the armor is full of holes, and pieces are missing, the Panzer can't withstand more than a few shots from a Charged Particle Cannon, even one from a Death Saurer.

"Good, which means I'll come out rare."

Eve sighed over the radio. "Even death doesn't cure stupidity."

"I ain't dead yet. I ran a Lightning Saix into a mountain, I can take this bullshit. Even if The thing's falling apart." Sykes said. The Liger Zero was elevated to the magnetic catapult. "Fire me right between the Death Saurers' brain pans." He began turning the safeties off on the eight sixteen-shot missile racks spread over the Panzer's armor, and loaded the heavy Triple-shock cannon mounted on the Zoid's Underbelly with the armor penetrating Kraken Shells. If worst came to wear, who could still shoot the one of the Death Saurer's CPC emitter.

He was launched. Sykes felt like he was back in flight training, which in his mind 'reach for barf bag located below seat.' It was like being back in a Pteras, something he had hoped never to do again. Both Saurers began to charge their main gun, aiming at Sykes. Sykes target the mouths of both Zoids and fired all the missiles he had, then fired the Shock Cannon for good measure. (it didn't hit anything, but it made Sykes feel better.) Right when he was between the two, thy fired, not paying attention to each other. The missiles struck, surrounding the head with a fireball. The twin beams of excited particles lashed out, just barely missing the tail of the Liger zero, instead hitting each other in the head.

"He's mad!" Blaise cried to herself. "I'm having dreams about an insane twit with a suicide pact! An assisted Suicide pact!"

"Smart, though. The weakest part of a Death Saurer's armor is right in the mouth, where the cannon is. He shorted it for a few seconds and gave himself enough time to sail ahead of the beam." Vincent explained to Eve, who's mouth was currently on the floor.

"He's still an insane twit! I have the guys on my side!"

"Um, yeah, I think everyone votes he is certifiably insane, I never said he wasn't! No wonder he argues with you!" Vincent cried back.

"I just killed two death Saurers, and you sitting there arguing about my sanity? What about my health?!" Sykes asked.

"Screw your health!" Eve cried. Sykes didn't hear the rest, he shut off the radio, pondering. His thoughts were back in that Lightning Saix Tornado. The second before the impact. He'd seen the rock face like he'd seen his breakfast that morning. He realized it wasn't over. More and more pilots would join Backdraft, and more and more would be sent after him. The Lightning Dragon was now a dead man. Battlelines would be drawn. Alliances would be shattered. And at the center would be Sykes Krousen and Blaze, fighting only for survival now.

Sykes grinned, revealing newly grown fangs. This was gonna be a hell of a ride.

Next in the Schneider Omnibus: Battlelines

Epilogue:

Sykes sat down across from Blaze.

"So, let's talk about this relationship." He said.

"We are not friends."

"Alright."

"We do not like each other."

"Naturally."

"I do not sleep in the same room."

"Of course not."

"I'm here to look for Zeke, nothing more."

"What are partners for?"

"You know, you are a tough negotiator."

"Yep."

"You will stop fucking me in my dreams."

"What?!"

&&&

Saix and the two Death Saurer pilots entered a shadowy room. Saix nearly shuddered.

"The Dark Liger has been destroyed. You will once again pilot the Death Stinger." The shadowed man said.

"Yes, sir." Saix said.

"We must destroy the Proto Liger, before its pilot discovers its true abilities."

"It has not yet taken the final form. A Death Stinger should be able to destroy it, however it will be risky. If we cannot destroy it in time, more contact with danger will bring out more power. We must tread lightly, sir."

"Which is why I chose you."

"Yes, sir."

"Destroy any teams you find. The more that fall, the closer he will come."

"Yes, sir."

"Dismissed. Long live Emperor Zenebas."

Saix turned and quickly left. The man gave him the Chills.

&&&

The White organoid was still looking into the sky.

"Hey, old buddy, you okay?"

Zeke growled an affirmative.

Van sat down next to him. "Is it Blaze?"

Another affirmative growl.

"She'll find you. Don't worry. C'mon, Let's keep on moving."

Van and Zeke began walking back to Caesar. Something was coming. Something big.


End file.
